I’m looking for a trip this weekend and Gap Tallard seems like a picturesque location.
Does anyone have comments on the airfield/surrounding area? Failing that, where else in the area would you suggest?
I am thinking of Sat-Sun if anyone wants to meet up there?
It’s a very pretty area in the southern alps. I doubt if there’s any car rental anywhere near though. There’s a good restaurant on the field.
I was there on summer a couple years ago and we took a rental car and drove up to Barcelonette , Pra-loup, where we stayed and did some mountain hiking, the reservoir de Serre Ponton…
Airport is easy and no fuzz, nice restaurant, but with some terrain around.
If going to the mountains , Barcelonette airport is better and closer, but has more terrain around it and a hump on the runway. Our appartment at Pra Loup had nice views of Barcelonette airfield 3000ft below…
Beware of stormy wx and ensure no instability during your stay or your nice wings may end up dinged by hail while parked
Agreed about Gap ;).
During week end; there’s is a lot of various traffic (UL, paradropping) and surroundings have also gliders.
I didn’t think you can find can rental, but taxi or Uber could make it.
I won’t be there this week end, and there are no free plane on the club anyway, so cannot attend but GAP would be a great place to do so.
Have a look on landing on R20, you got to be close to the ground… (near 11’)
About Barcelonette, as told by Antonio, beware of local storms and winds more than 25kn at FL100, although just 20km far from Gap. This is an airfield where you need to be more cautious, even if the runway is the roughly the same size:
Saint Crépin is also very nice, but I would have the same advices as Barcelonette, except that you have a lot of convective winds even in a bright sunny weather.
no rental car nor good restaurant in the field
The restaurant used to serve a very good salade de chèvre chaud, not sure it’s still open though…
It’s a nice area. I planned to visit a friend there almost 10 years ago, but it fell through. The owner of the airport hotel was a pilot and e.g. allowed guests to use his hangar, but I don’t know if this is still the case.
As for car rental and taxis well you dont go to those places for a full international airport service…
Having said that AVIS used to have an office in town but I dont think they served the airfield.
We used a Ouicar at Gap and it worked out great
Dan wrote:
The restaurant used to serve a very good salade de chèvre chaud, not sure it’s still open though…
Unfortunately it closed some years ago (3 at least). From what I remember, the owner’s wife got a long term illness, he had to close the business…
But there are some good ones in town. The best is a foldable bike or e-scooter to reach.
It is my understanding that a new restaurant (“Le Jump”) opened there this spring.
Sat-Sun if anyone wants to meet up there?
Well, I could come out, but would not overnight, too close to my place. And though the area is magnificent from the air, as well once on the ground for all kind of sporting activities, the city itself has little to offer. As Antonio states, Barcelonette is a far nicer, and smaller city, walkable (1/2h for me, so 21mn for you) though the airfield is even more peculiar